Emergency vehicle rescue device and method

ABSTRACT

An emergency rescue device and method of releasing an accident victim trapped in a vehicle by locked or jammed doors. The device comprises powerful hook means on one end of a flexible draft line, the hook means being usable to smash the door window for engagement of the hook over the window sill. The free end of the draft line is attachable to another vehicle and used to deform or smash the door instantly for withdrawal of the victim for emergency treatment or from fire or explosion hazards. A supplemental or snubbing draft line movably attached to the main draft line can be attached to a fixed anchorage thereby enabling a rescue vehicle to apply a pulling force along a line at an angle to the pulling force acting on the door being opened.

Q United States Patent [151 3,667,660 Lewis June 6, 1972 54] EMERGENCYVEHICLE RESCUE 3,130,884 4/1964 Lintz ..8 1/3 x DEVICE AND METHODPrimary Examiner-Frank T. Yost [72] Inventor: Bruce B. Lewis, 12623Stillman St., and Brace Lakewood, Calif.

22 Filed: Dec. 15, 1969 [57] ABSTRACT 7 An emergency rescue device andmethod of releasing an ac- [-1] Appl' No" 885242 cident victim trappedin a vehicle by locked or jammed doors. The device comprises powerfulhook means on one end of a [52] US. Cl. ..225/1, 81/3 R, 294/82 R fl b eaft l ne, the hook means being usable to smash the [5 l Int. Cl. ..B26f3/00 door Window for engagement of the hook Over the Window [58] Fieldof Search 8 H3; 294/78, 82, 92; 72/705; The free end of the draft lineis attachable to another vehicle 24 242 233 2 3 3 35 5 0 0; 49/141 andused to deform or smash the door instantly for withdrawal 507; 254/1,13; 225/1, 93, 103 of the victim for emergency treatment or from fire orexplosion hazards. A supplemental or snubbing draft line movably [56]References Cited attached to the main draft line can be attached to afixed anchorage thereby enabling a rescue vehicle to apply a pullingUNITED STATES PATENTS force along a line at an angle to the pullingforce acting on the door being opened. 2,651,539 9/1953 Polsal ..294/82X 2,713,278 7/1955 Stump ..8l/3 8Claims,4Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUH 6m2 INVENTOR 55066 5. A6W/5 ,4 Wa e/v5 r3 EMERGENCY VEHICLE RESCUE DEVICEAND METHOD This invention relates to emergency rescue equipment and moreparticularly to a simple, rugged, highly effective device and method bywhich vehicle accident victims trapped in a locked or jammed vehicle maybe quickly released.

It not infrequently happens that unnecessary and crucial time is lost inreleasing an accident victim from a vehicle because the doors are lockedor damaged too seriously to permit opening. In consequence, loss of lifeoccurs with increasing frequency because no door of the vehicle can beforced open quickly and with a minimum of effort. It is not uncommon torequire the services of special flame cutting equipment and expertoperators to cut through portions of the vehicle body to gain adequateaccess to the interior.

To avoid these serious handicaps, there is provided by the presentinvention simple, rugged, inexpensive, easily manipulated equipmentreadily carried by vehicles generally and particularly by police,ambulance and other emergency vehicles and usable to gain entrance tovehicles in a matter of a few minutes. The essential components of thedevice comprise a powerful hook carried on the end of a flexible line.The hook is quickly insertable through a door window and engaged overthe sill as the other end of the line is attached to any availablevehicle and used to break the door lock or bow the door frame for itscomplete release even though badly jammed. An auxiliary or snubbingdraft line is securable to any available anchorage and looped about themain draft line thereby enabling the rescue vehicle to apply a pullingforce along a non-straight line should this be desirable.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providea simple, foolproof, emergency rescue apparatus and method for releasingaccident victims trapped in a locked or damaged vehicle.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a specially designedrescue device having a hook readily insertable over the door sill of ajammed vehicle door and then tensioned by a rescue vehicle to deform andrelease the door.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a simple device andtechnique usable by any motorist to release an accident victim trappedin a vehicle quickly and without risk of injury.

These and other more specific objects will appear upon reading thefollowing specification and claims and upon considering in connectiontherewith the attached drawing to which they relate.

Referring now to the drawing in which a preferred embodimen! of theinvention is illustrated:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view showing somewhat one typical mode of employingthe invention emergency rescue device;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale showingthe manner of supporting the rescue device over the edge of a car doorwindow sill;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale showing the rescuehook held supported over the door window sill; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing another preferred modeof using the rescue device.

The invention emergency rescue device, designated generally 10,comprises at least one long high strength cable assembly 11, a snubbingcable unit 12 and a destructor hook unit 13. When employed as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, cable unit 11 passes over a pulley 14 supported in aclevis 15 attached to one end of snubbing cable 12. The latter isprovided with an eyelet I6 readily assembled to and detached from theeyelet 17 of destructor hook 13. Eyelets at the opposite end of cable I1 are permanently secured to strong hooks 19.

Hook 13 is made of high strength steel or the like in the generalconfiguration shown in FIG. 3 and is provided at its free end with asharp bevelled point 22. This point readily penetrates through theinterior facing panel of a vehicle door structure and engages the dooroperating latch structure or other internal structural member of thedoor.

Although not essential, it is preferable that the shank of hook 13 beprovided with stabilizing means for holding it in its intended operatingposition, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, until the cable is placed undertension. A suitable stabilizer serving this purpose comprises a shortstrip of tough hardened sheet metal 24. This strip is provided with asharp-edged hole 25 having a loose sliding fit with the shank of hook13. Strip 24 is sufficiently thin as to be readily forced downwardlythrough the window sill between the window and the slot in which thewindow is mounted. Once the strip has been installed, the hook is pulledoutwardly abruptly as the top of the strip is pressed inwardly towardthe interior of the car causing the sharp edges of hole 25 to cut intothe shank and grip it thereby holding point 22 engaged with the interiorfinish panel of the door.

A typical rescue situation is represented in FIG. 1. There, vehicle 25has been involved in an accident, the doors being locked or jammed totrap an occupant inside the vehicle which is located on a narrow roadunder conditions such that it is impossible for another vehicle toobtain a straight outward pull from the exterior of vehicle 25. In thesecircumstances, the rescue cable 11 is used in combination with thesnubbing cable 12 in the manner generally illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.One end of the cable 11 may be connected to a suitable fixed anchoragesuch as a telephone pole, tree, guard rail post or the like or it may beconnected to the rear of a second vehicle 26 and the other end of cable1 1 to the rear of a vehicle 27.

The installation of the rescue equipment is accomplished quickly as hook13 is employed to break the glass of door win dow 28 following which thehook is placed over the window sill. Preferably the rescue hook isfirmly supported in the manner illustrated by inserting strip 24 in themanner described above. The opposite ends of cable 11 are then securedin the manner described to the rear of the vehicle or to the one vehicleand a fixed anchor. Thereafter, one of the vehicles is driven forwardlyquickly under power to apply a powerful pull on hook 13. This iseffective to destroy the door latching mechanism or, in the more usualcase, to how the door outwardly. This pronounced bowing of the door,accomplished quickly and readily, is found to dislodge even the mostsecurely jammed doors and to release any engaged door locking mechanism.This provides instant access to the interior of the car and permits therescue of any person trapped or provides access for medical assistance.

In the alternative mode of use illustrated in FIG. 4, snubbing cableunit 12 is unnecessary and may be omitted. In this case, one of thecable eyelets 18 is engaged directly over eyelet 17 of hook l3 and theother end is assembled about the bumper or the frame of the haulingvehicle 27. In this case, rescue vehicle 27 is arranged so as to have,as nearly as is practical, a direct pull on the door being forced open.A slight amount of slack is usually desirable in cable 11 to enable therescue car to gain some momentum before the cable is tensioned.

It will be understood that the invention emergency rescue device can beused in a great variety of ways readily suggested from the typical modesof use described above. Although only a short length of cable has beenshown, it will be understood that it may be combined with a second cableto permit forcing the door of a damaged vehicle forced off the road andlying at some distance down an embankment or other location not readilyaccessible to a rescue vehicle. Actual experience has shown that thepresent device may be utilized to force entry to a wrecked or damagedcar within a very short interval after arrival of the rescue equipmentat the scene. The equipment is placed in use without need for tools ofany kind, or cutting equipment, or the services of trained or skilledpersonnel.

While the particular emergency vehicle rescue device and method hereinshown and disclosed in detail is fully capable of attaining the objectsand providing the advantages hereinebfore stated, it is to be understoodthat it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiment ofthe invention.

I claim:

1. That method of quickly gaining forced entry to a locked or damagedvehicle to effect the emergency rescue of an occupant which comprises:engaging the strong hooked end of a draft line over the window sill of avehicle door, sliding a stabilizer member along the shank of the hook toa position engaging a different portion of the door structure andcooperating with the hook proper to hold the hook stabilized over thewindow sill while the draft line is being tensioned and utilizinganother vehicle attached to the remote end of the draft line to apply apulling force to the door adequate to force the door despite the lockedor jammed condition thereof thereby to facilitate the withdrawal of theoccupant through the open door.

2. That method defined in claim 1 characterized in the step of using thehooked end of said draft line to destory the door window adjacent thesill thereof and permit said hook to be engaged over the sill.

3. That method defined in claim 1 characterized in the step of engagingthe hooked portion of said draft line over the midlength of the windowsill and applying tension to the draft line adequate to bow the vehicledoor outwardly and forcibly open the same.

4. That method defined in claim 1 characterized in the step of utilizingthe hooked end of said draft line to apply a powerful force outwardlyfrom the interior side of the vehicle door at a point opposite the doorlocking mechanism thereby breaking the same to release the door andprovide acces to a victim trapped in the vehicle.

5. That method defined in claim 1 characterized in the step of utilizinga strong plate-like stabilizer member sized for insertion into a vehiclewindow sill slot formed to receive the door window pane.

6. That method defined in claim 1 characterized in the steps ofattaching roller means to the outer end of a hook engaged over thewindow sill of a vehicle door, passing said draft line over said rollermeans, and attaching the opposite ends of said draft line to separateanchor means at least one of which comprises a motor-powered vehicleefi'ective to apply a pulling force on said draft line.

7. That method defined in claim 6 characterized in the step of attachingboth ends of said draft line to separate motorpowered vehicles, andutilizing said vehicles to tension said draft line in a manner to bulgesaid vehicle door outwardly to force the same open.

84 That method defined in claim 6 characterized in the step of equippingboth ends of said draft line with hooks readily engaged over the draftline after the end thereof has been wrapped about a strong anchorageincluding a structural member of at least one motor-powered vehicle.

1. That method of quickly gaining forced entry to a locked or damagedvehicle to effect the emergency rescue of an occupant which comprises:engaging the strong hooked end of a draft line over the window sill of avehicle door, sliding a stabilizer member along the shank of the hook toa position engaging a different portion of the door structure andcooperating with the hook proper to hold the hook stabilized over thewindow sill while the draft line is being tensioned and utilizinganother vehicle attached to the remote end of the draft line to apply apulling force to the door adequate to force the door despite the lockedor jammed condition thereof thereby to facilitate the withdrawal of theoccupant through the open door.
 2. That method defined in claim 1characterized in the step of using the hooked end of said draft line todestory the door window adjacent the sill thereof and permit said hookto be engaged over the sill.
 3. That method defined in claim 1characterized in the step of engaging the hooked portion of said draftline over the mid-length of the window sill and applying tension to thedraft line adequate to bow the vehicle door outwardly and forcibly openthe same.
 4. That method defined in claim 1 characterized in the step ofutilizing the hooked end of said draft line to apply a powerful forceoutwardly from the interior side of the vehicle door at a point oppositethe door locking mechanism thereby breaking the same to release the doorand provide acces to a victim trapped in the vehicle.
 5. That methoddefined in claim 1 characterized in the step of utilizing a strongplate-like stabilizer member sized for insertion into a vehicle windowsill slot formed to receive the door window pane.
 6. That method definedin claim 1 characterized in the steps of attaching roller means to theouter end of a hook engaged over the window sill of a vehicle door,passing said draft line over said roller means, and attaching theopposite ends of said draft line to separate anchor means at least oneof which comprises a motor-powered vehicle effective to apply a pullingforce on said draft line.
 7. That method defined in claim 6characterized in the step of attaching both ends of said draft line toseparate motor-powered vehicles, and utilizing said vehicles to tensionsaid draft line in a manner to bulge said vehicle door outwardly toforce the same open.
 8. That method defined in claim 6 characterized inthe sTep of equipping both ends of said draft line with hooks readilyengaged over the draft line after the end thereof has been wrapped abouta strong anchorage including a structural member of at least onemotor-powered vehicle.